First Blood
by Medie
Summary: VERY Alternate Universe. there's vampires in the literal sense G The Wraith have broken the truce...


Title: first blood...  
Author: M.  
Feedback: meep  
Rating: uhhh light R for, erm, vamp snacking?  
Pairing: Sheppard/Weir  
Spoilers: None. AU  
Disclaimers: Sheppard. Not mine. Weir. Not mine.  
Author's Note: I have quite possibly lost my mind and that's all I'm saying  
Summary: The gauntlet's been thrown...

"first blood..."  
by M.  
----------

Elizabeth had always enjoyed music. She'd enjoyed the musicians too, of course, they were always a fine vintage, but there was something to the music itself. There was something of it that she so enjoyed. The art of listening was exactly that. An art. And though the music had changed over the centuries the art, the act, of listening had not.

The band tonight was playing a deep, throbbing beat which one felt and listened to with one's entire body. To listen to it was like taking a bath. Sinking into the music as one would into the warm, scented waters. Standing behind the bar, Elizabeth rested her hands palms down on its glossy surface and let her body sway with the beat, her motions inherently seductive and drawing the eye of man and woman alike.

Closing her eyes she let the sense of the place wash over her. The energies and essences of mortal and vampire alike mingled and collided creating a maelstrom and for the vampires, a sensual onslaught. The club was a popular one. Atlantis drew all to her doors. Young, old, uninhibited, repressed, none resisted it and all bathed in it's energies. For the vampires it was a feeding ground, a source of the best vintages in the city, for the mortals a place whispered of pleasures and debauchery for which it had become legend. It was hers and Elizabeth was proud of it. She had worked hard among her fellows to make it what it was and she was pleased to see it had accomplished much.

All without drawing undo attention.

Much anyway.

She had learned in her many centuries of vampirism how do what needed to be done. Who to turn, who to control, and who to remove from the picture entirely. If done with care and caution it was possible to remain unnoticed and Elizabeth had learned well the art of invisibility.

A familiar sense intruded upon her moment and she opened her eyes slowly to find an equally familiar man standing before the bar. Detective John Sheppard. She smiled, lips curving up slowly into a predatory grin. If she had a favorite mortal amongst the regulars to her club it was this one. This one who walked among her kind unafraid. Taunting and teasing and entrancing them all. Many would have enjoyed to take a taste but none dared. Elizabeth had marked him as hers in all the ways which mattered and though she was generous with her gifts, she was deadly with her punishments.

"I didn't expect to see you tonight." She sighed out, reaching beneath the bar for a glass. "I thought you couldn't..come."

He grinned, leaning on the bar, drawing her eye to the strength hidden beneath his far too simple suit coat and reminding her of the life which coursed through his veins and the taste of it exploding across her tongue. "Maybe I couldn't stay away."

"Maybe?" She said with a moue of disappointment, setting his drink before him. "John...really...I'm hurt."

"No you aren't." He countered smoothly, reaching for her hand instead of the drink, turning it over and tracing a pattern in her palm. "You knew I'd be here."

Elizabeth smiled, the smile hinting at fang, her eyes glowing ever so slightly and eliciting the desired reaction in him. He could hide it from the others but she could feel the shudder of excitement that raced through him. "I did." She tilted her head slightly, thick dark curls tumbling with the movement. "But you aren't here now because you want to be." She frowned a bit and withdrew. "They..."

He nodded. "We should talk in the back."

She scowled but couldn't disagree. This was a discussion not meant for mortal, or vampiric, ears and best left for privacy. Turning, she led him along the bar and through the ornate door which led to the lushly decorated office that was her abode at work. She settled into the chair behind her desk, sinking into the soft, rich fabric of the seat. "Tell me." She demanded, her tone taking on the imperious edge that her status in the vampiric community bequeathed her. "What have the Wraith done now?"

There were levels to the vampiric existence. A hierarchy of sorts. A evolutionary ladder. At the top rested Elizabeth and her kind. Elegant, sensual, deadly and utterly superior. But stepping down from that, rested the others. Each getting worse and worse, farther from human and closer to animal. Demon. Somewhere in the midst of the worst of all rested the Wraith. Inhuman, vicious creatures who gave no thought to the concerns of their betters. They paid no mind to the attention of mortals. Feeding when they wished, hunting where they wished, and killing without thought. Elizabeth and her kind knew better. Such action drew death. Drew those that hunted and slayed their kind. It was foolhardy but the Wraith persisted still.

And so between the two the war raged on with mortals caught in the middle as spoil.

"Street kids." John admitted. "A lot of them. We've had over ten, close to twenty, killed in the last two days." He pulled out a picture and presented it to her for her perusal. "Given the location...and the savagery of the kills..."

She accepted it and took a careful look, her eyes flashing gold with her rage. "Wraith." She agreed, her voice low and deadly. She paid no heed to hiding the killer within her when the Wraith were involved. Her kind enjoyed the game. Enjoyed the putting on of deception and finery. It was as much a part of the dance as the feeding itself. Those that they fed from who were willing, those like John, they did not wish to be seen by in such a light. But now, in this, John had been accepted and given far greater trust by Elizabeth than any mortal before him.

Crumpling the print out, she threw it aside and met his gaze. "We will attend to it." She decided calmly, reigning in control of her beast. "Teyla and Ronon have seen far too little of the fight lately." She smiled faintly. "They're growing restless." Which was not a lie. Her best fighters, those most experienced in the fight against the Wraith, often grew tired and restless if they went too long without encountering their adversary. There were nights when it was all she could do to prevent them from seeking out combat.

"Well this came along at just the right time." John agreed flippantly, trying to lighten the mood. Elizabeth had told him enough of the conflict and the war which had raged for as long as her kind had existed. He knew enough to know that the Wraith's action carried with it explosive consequences. He did not want to know more than that. Not right now.

She humored him, favoring him with a softer smile. "I suppose." She rose, circling the desk to stand behind him, resting her hands on his shoulders. "You look tired."

"You don't." He commented. "That dress...new?" He turned his head slightly, taking in the silken fabric which lay close to her skin and making her smile genuine. The desire that radiated off him in waves could not be ignored easily. It was how it was between them. The fires banked long enough to deal with the business at hand before springing to life once more. "I like."

"A gift." Elizabeth didn't elaborate further. She didn't need to. John had no need of knowing that the gift was from Kolya. Master of another family within the city. John had once had the unfortunate luck of landing himself in the middle of a disagreement between them and, well, she was in no mood to introduce him to it again. He had barely survived the last time, had thought her dead and had nearly gone on a war against her whole race. Even now, Koyla complained of the soldiers John had killed. Vampires that had been in his service for centuries. She felt little concern for his ditherings but, nevertheless, she did not wish to see John harmed for them. So, she avoided further mention and saved the argument for another night. There were other concerns to be dealt with after all. More pleasant ones by far. "You like it hmm?" Without waiting for an answer, she rubbed his shoulders and frowned in disapproval. "You are far too tense."

"Hazard of the job."

"Hmm...so you say." She circled the chair again, settling herself down into his lap. "You should take better care, John." She smiled as he tried to suppress a hiss of pleasure as she made herself comfortable. "We don't want you working yourself into exhaustion." She leaned over, taking the scent of him and smiling. "There are more pleasant ways of achieving that if you wish..."

He rested his hands on her hips, squeezing just a little, as she skimmed along his neck, lips playing over the skin. "Got any particular one in mind?"

"A few." She agreed, nipping and drawing her first taste. In fact, she had many and they would engage the night in them. The Wraith would be dealt with in their own time and in her own way. She had just enough of their recklessness and she doubted a consultation with the others of her station in the Community would disagree. Patience with the actions of the Wraith was thinning and a full-scale conflict was inevitable. Wars among their kind of such nature were rare but they did happen and she had survived many, she would survive this one as well. In fact, if she conducted herself well, and handled things the way in which they needed to be handled and the number of those under her command grew...

She could increase her dominion threefold. Elizabeth did not openly court or seek power but she would not turn it away when it landed at her door. The thought pleased her and she smiled.

Her lips tightened, John's grip eased, and both groaned in pleasure as the sharing began.

Elizabeth give orders before daybreak and her soldiers would break forth into a hunt. The Wraith responsible for the killings would be brought before the Council and dealt with. The message would be sent. The gauntlet thrown down.

War...

And so it would begin.

finis?


End file.
